The Giants are reigning World Series champions after running away with the National League West and making a historic run through the postseason, and the A's are defending division champs as well. But not long after turning San Francisco and Oakland into title towns, they're suddenly viewed as second-class citizens in their own divisions.

The Giants finished eight games ahead of the Dodgers, the A's five ahead of the Angels. But money changed how the Southern California teams are perceived, and they've become clear division favorites by oddsmakers, one of whom opened the Dodgers' over/under win total at 90, the Angels' at 89.5.

Giants: 86.

A's: 83.

According to another sportsbook, the odds of the Dodgers and Angels winning the World Series are each 7-1 while the Giants are at 14-1 and the A's 30-1.

It's not just the casinos. Baseball Prospectus, which uses sabermetrics to calculate how the standings could go, predicts the Dodgers finishing eight games ahead of the second-place Giants, the Angels seven ahead of the third-place A's. As projections from newspapers and other websites are revealed, it'll be more of the same.

The Giants and A's are taking it all in stride, believing their rosters haven't weakened since they both won 94 regular-season games and division titles in 2012.

He added, "I don't care how much money you want to spend. You can spend $300 million on a guy who'll help you once every five days. Great. What are you going to do the other four days? To me, it's about pitching, it's about playing defense. If I make my pitch, I have a good chance. Even if they're all hitting .300, you've still got a 70 percent chance of getting them out. I'll probably take those odds any day."

And ...

"The back end of our bullpen has the ability to take down lineups if we make our pitches. That's what we're working hard to do. We put together a defensive team, allowing our pitchers to not try to strike everyone out. Put the ball in play, and you could have a half-billion dollar lineup, but if they hit it to our guys, that's the key, hitting to our guys."

Buster Posey wouldn't say the Dodgers would give the Giants the most trouble in the NL West: "It's hard to know until we start playing games. They've got a great group of guys. It could be some fun games."

Even the Rangers, who lost Hamilton, tend to get more love than Oakland, prompting A's right fielder Josh Reddickto say, "We're still getting thrown out in the wind." But he's quick to add, "We still believe we can do it again."

A's general manager Billy Beanecalled the Angels and Rangers "two great teams with high-profile players."

As for his A's, Beane said, "These guys feel good about themselves, and we feel good as well. It's great we're not talked about. It makes (manager Bob Melvin's) life and my life a lot easier. If the script plays out the exact same way as last year, we'll be happy with that."

Zito dilemma: Barry Zito's contract expires after this season. Or does it? If Zito pitches 200 innings (he had 184 1/3 last year), his $18 million option for 2014 will kick in.

But there's one more factor to consider: If he falls below 200, the Giants could buy out his contract for $7 million and would need to ask themselves this question: "Can we find a durable and reliable pitcher to fill a rotation spot for less than $11 million?"

If not, they might just exercise the full $18 million. It's a matter of paying him $7 million to go away or $11 million more to stay. Or, of course, they could buy him out and re-sign him for less than $11 million.

Either way, it's something that never would have been considered a year ago. Then came Game 5 of the NLCS. And Game 1 of the World Series.

Rickey the philanthropist: In Mike Piazza's book, "Long Shot," he described Rickey Henderson as a giving person, especially when it came to voting for playoff shares, which is conducted by contending teams before the postseason.

"The shares meeting is always an interesting exercise in human dynamics, sort of a microcosm of democracy," Piazza wrote. "Rickey was the most generous guy I ever played with, and whenever the discussion came around to what we should give one of the fringe people - whether it was a minor-leaguer who came up for a few days or the parking lot attendant - Rickey would shout out, 'Full share!'

"We'd argue for a while and he'd say, 'F- that! You can change somebody's life!' I admired Rickey's heart, but I usually came down somewhere in the middle."

Around the majors: Red Sox manager John Farrellis considering Jonny Gomesbatting third against left-handers - he hit .299 off lefties last season - but Dustin Pedroiafigures to be the regular No. 3 hitter. ... Gio Gonzalezis eager to join Joe Torre's Team USA pitching staff in the World Baseball Classic. "People would know that I'm actually from here," said the Hialeah, Fla., native of Cuban descent. ... Ex-Giants prospect Zack Wheeler, 22, said he's ready to open with the Mets, but they want him to begin with Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Ryan Theriot, still a free agent, wanted more playing time than the Giants could provide, but not many opportunities remain, though the Rangers or Indians are said to have interest.